Monsell, William, 1st Baron Emly (1812-1894), landowner and politician

William Monsell was born on 21 September 1812 as the only child of William Monsell and Olivia née Johnson-Walsh of Tervoe, county Limerick. He was educated at Winchester College and Oriel College, Oxford, which he left in 1833 without taking a degree. He sat as MP for county Limerick from 1847 to 1874, during which time he became a Roman Catholic and shifted his political allegiance from Tory to Whig. His chief interests during his political career revolved around education. He was co-founder of St Columba's College (1843), closely associated with Mungret Agricultural School, particularly during its conversion into a Catholic college in 1882, and instrumental in the establishment of the Royal University (1879). He died at Tervoe on 2 April 1894 and was buried in the family vault in Kilkeedy cemetery.